


The Road to Hell

by overthemoonday



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Alternate Canon, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Character(s) of Color, F/F, F/M, Gangs, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Original Character(s), Poverty, Teenage Rebellion, but hey, enjoy the ride, we go off script quite a bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-09-05 19:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20278810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/overthemoonday/pseuds/overthemoonday
Summary: What's worse- a psychic who can't remember how to survive, or her friends who are forced to save the world? The road to destiny is never easy. The road to hell is worse.





	1. Wait For Me

**Author's Note:**

> If Waking Up Normal by DelilahAzure inspired The Game Begins, then To Be Human by EibonVirgo inspired this.
> 
> Thank you, everyone. You are my irreplaceable friends that I cannot live without.
> 
> I hope you enjoy every second of what I give, as I enjoy every second I spend with you.
> 
> Xoxo
> 
> Kara

"_Wait!_"

I feel like I'm falling, yet I can't see where I'm going. I can't move. Everything hurts; I don't know what's going on.

"_I'm coming!"  
_

Do I know that voice? It doesn't sound familiar. I try to reach out, but find myself unable. Yet...

_"I'll find you!"_

Gods, it's bright. Too bright. I open my eyes for a brief second, only to close them again because of the pain. I realize that there's a hand holding mine. I have to try to open my eyes. It takes too long for the world to focus into view, but there's a girl sitting next to me. I see is blonde hair. Her hand tightens on mine once she sees my eyes land on her.

"You're awake!" The girl breathes out, her light blue eyes widening in shock. She stands up, her blonde hair falling into her face, but she doesn't seem to care. Her focus is only on me. "I-I'm so sorry! It's kind of confusing waking up in a strange place. I'll try and explain! My name- it's Rise Rikiya, I was just walking by when I-I, well, I saw you crashed your D-Wheel. I didn't have a name to give you, and-" She cut herself off. Her voice drops to a whisper. "They don't let people from the Satellite here. I think you're from the Satellite. The clothes you were wearing, and where you crashed...I-I didn't want to get you in trouble, and you were really hurt, so I gave you a fake name, but if you have a name I can tell the doctors! A-and I won't tell them what I saw!" She bit her lip, seemingly ending her ramble. I opened my mouth to speak but ended up coughing instead. How long had I been out? What was the Satellite?

"Oh, I'm so sorry, of course, you can't speak right now. I'm an idiot. You just woke up," Rise let go of my hand to reach for water on the side table. She helped me into a sitting position before helping me hold a cup of water. The water felt refreshing against my dry throat. "You've been out for a week," Rise quietly informed me as she rubbed my back with her free hand.

"A week..." I echo. My voice is raspy.

"Do you have a name I can tell them?" Rise's hand found mine again.

I sat still. The room felt cold. Without looking, I could tell it was dark outside. The white walls felt suffocating with the only color in the room being Rise's presence. I shake my head. Dark black hair, almost blue, falls in front of my eyes. This is the first glimpse of myself I've had.

I didn't even know I had black hair.

Why didn't I know my own hair?

"I don't know," I answer in a small voice. Rise takes in a breathe, letting out a quiet, "_Oh."_ I look up at Rise, meeting her eyes. She seemed to realize what was wrong.

"You don't...remember anything," Rise looked heartbroken. She looked to me and squeezed my hand.

"What...what name did you give me?" My words are low. Unsure. I don't know who I am.

"Kallen," Rise answers with a small smile. "I named you Kallen Rikiya. Please..." She let go of my hand and bowed. "Let me take care of you!"

.

.

.

* * *

_"I'm coming wait for me! I hear the walls repeating._

_The falling of _ ** _my_ ** _ feet and it sounds like drumming._

_And _ ** _I_ ** _ am not alone._

_I hear the rocks and stones echoing _ ** _my_ ** _ song._

_I'm coming!"_

_(Hadestown)_

_PART 1 - HEY LITTLE SONGBIRD - LINK START_

* * *

There's no better way to start off a day than by being hungover and barely existing on this plane. So here we are.

It's too bright outside. I forgot to shut my curtains last night, which means now the light is pouring in. Specifically, it's right onto my face. I don't want to move to close the curtain. _Fuck_, my body hurts. I don't even remember what I did to deserve this headache.

I lift the covers of my blanket to cover my head. I want to block out the sun, despite knowing there was no point. My alarm goes off for a second later.

_You have one voice mail._

The machine beeps. "_Kallen! I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I didn't hear from you at all last night! Well, I did, but-" _A giggle sounds from the machine.

Right. Rise must have tried to call me last night. Something tells me I was _gone_ by that point. But she would understand. She's been there for me since the beginning.

I woke up, a little more than a year ago, with no memories and a wrecked body.

Apparently, I crashed my D-Wheel, but shit if I remember. My helmet was crap- made from foam and plastic- which lead to my 'traumatic brain injury'. Something went wrong, I wasn't getting oxygen to my brain, or something related to that. Now I can't remember the first however many years of my life. Adding burns, scrapes, and scars I can't get rid of, and you have Kallen Rikiya.

But Rise...that girl went out for me- someone she didn't know. She gave me a name. She thinks I came from the Satellite. She didn't know how I got there, but she gave me a name to protect me. A week later, she had a letter in the mail. Neither of us understood how, but someone had given _me_ documentation to prove I was Kallen, a member of Neo Domino City. I had an ID card, a D-Wheel License, and a student ID for Neo Domino City' Duel Academia. I joined that week. I owe Rise everything I have, right from offering me her place to crash for the first few months, down to helping me find a job.

But for the love of the gods, did Rise really have to pick to go to a party _tonight? _Rise may have just gotten her footing in launching her singing career, but I deserved a break too, dammit.

_"You promised you'd go tonight. Remember? It's the after party for the Friendship Tournament. I'll be there to pick you up at six. I'll treat you to dinner! Love you!"_

I groaned, my lips forming a word that maybe wasn't nice to say, but they made me feel better. I reach to pull the blanket off of me, my dark hair in my face. I need to sit up. My body moves on its own, albeit sluggish, as I force myself into a sitting position. I'm wearing one of Ike's shirts- which, when did I get one of Ike's shirts? Why am I wearing it? Why the hell do I have it? I know I gave back all of his shit when we broke up. Why is it here- on my body? Why has this become another event in a sea of things I don't remember?

"Show me today," My hand goes towards my cards, AKA one of the only things they found that belonged to me after my accident. A tarot deck. I know I've used it in the past, but recently all I've been using it for is daily horoscopes and shifty street duels. I pull- my eyes closing as I move the card towards me. I know which one it is without looking. The card whispers, its voice clear.

0\. The Fool. A card that stands for new beginnings, a new path, a new adventure. It's also a warning. Watch where you put your foot or fall in a ditch.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

"Fun," I force myself out of bed to do the normal routine. Shower, eat, work on my D-Wheel, _no_. I can't do that today. I have work. Could I upgrade it at work? The poor thing has come a long way since our entrance into Neo Domino City, but there are always things that could be _better._

I could be better. My fortune said new beginnings, right? A smile hits the edge of my lips. My body turns on instinct, my hand reaching out for a glass of water. I concentrate.

The glass starts to tremble. It slides off the desk, its form floating in the air. A bubble of laughter escapes my lips. My powers, for the last few months, have been _erratic_ at best. Ike was wrong. He could shove his opinions up his-

The glass shatters. It takes me a second to register what happened.

"Shit," I sigh.

No, nothing has changed. I'm still me. I'm still Kallen: the Psychic girl with no memories and no way to control her powers.

A knock sounds at the door. "Yeah, come in," I know who it is already. There's one other person who knows me well. Elodie Morgan peaks her head in the door, her almond-shaped black eyes rolling when she sees me.

"Just as I thought," Elodie closes the door behind her. Her magenta hair was pulled out of her face. She was dressed for work, where she was an intern at the Public Maintenance Bureau. "Hungover. Do you ever learn?"

"Where's the fun in that?" I muse back. Elodie Morgan, who came from a family of Public Maintenance Officers, was my best friend back at Duel Academia. When we found out I was a Psychic, she was the one who covered for me by saying the duel disks were malfunctioning after I accidentally knocked her back with my powers. I don't know how she did it, but she convinced them. She's been my friend ever since, and also the probably the reason I wasn't persecuted (or expelled) on the spot. I wasn't the first Psychic to be outed there.

"You're ridiculous," Elodie let out a sigh.

"Here," Elodie reached for her bag and takes out a take out box.

"My hero," I reach for the box and sat it down on the table. I begin to dig in as I ask, "So, how did you know I'd want this?"

"You called me last night," Elodie replies in a dry tone. She sips some of the iced coffee in her hands. "You know, it's _illegal_-"

"Not if you have the right ID," I remind her in a hum.

"That I made for you to get that bar piercing in your ear, not to sneak into some _bar-"_

"Psycho. The bar's called Psycho. I said I wanted it to get a bar, didn't I?"

"...really not the point, Kal," Elodie twirls some of her hair between her fingers- a nervous habit she's always had when she was uncomfortable.

"What'd I say?" I can barely speak between the mouthful of food.

"On the voicemail?" Elodie frowns. Her cheeks flushed as she lets out a tiny laugh. This makes me set down my food, my eyebrow raised. I'm not sure if it was more embarrassing for her, or for _me_. "You said you were out with some guy, but not to worry, because it wasn't like you were going to _sleep_ with him. Then you went off until the voicemail cut you off about how you were over Ike and not going to do anything with him again."

"Wild. Drunk me is a psycho. A psycho in Psycho."

"I think it's the first time I've ever agreed with drunk you," Elodie chuckles. I roll my eyes. "_Speaking of," _Elodie shoots me that innocent wide-eyed look, and I know I won't like the next words that will come out of her mouth.

"No," I reply automatically.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!" Elodie shoots me a look, but her doe eyes make it hard to take her seriously as a threat.

"Whoever it is, I don't care," I shrug my shoulders, my eyes meeting hers. "Lemme guess. Some up and comin' duelist just arrived, and you think we'd be a great match." I stab my food with my chopstick. "It's a no."

Elodie puffs up her cheeks, then slowly deflates. "I just want you to be happy," Elodie speaks softly. I stop. Without Elodie, I...would probably be in the Detention Center. It's where Ike should be. I let out a breath, my gaze moving up to look at Elodie. Dammit, I can't look at her when she's upset. Her eyes start to water.

"Who is he," My voice is flat and unenthusiastic. Elodie perks up, a radiant smile crossing her features, a swift change from a moment prior.

"His name is _Jack_ _Atlas_. My brother is his bodyguard until they get him set up in his new suite in the Tops, but Godwin seems to really like him. That's what my Dad said," Elodie's eyes are lit with positive energy. Something bothers me about the name. "I think you'd like him. He's just starting out, but he's already won some tournament-"

"Atlas," I murmur, not entirely listening to Elodie. She means well. "Isn't that the new King of Games?"

"So you _have_ heard of him!"

"Doesn't make me interested."

"Come on, Kal, give him a chance." Elodie raised an eyebrow towards me. "I bet you'd like him if you gave him a chance."

"Yeah?" I reach for my deck and pull a card, but end up grabbing the empty air. That means it's a card I'm missing. A full tarot deck contained twenty-two major arcana, but I was missing two of them: X. the Wheel of Fortune and XVII. the Star. I pull back my hand, a smirk crossing my features. "Guess we'll never know. I can't predict what's not there."

Elodie's face falls. "Do you think..." Her voice trails off. I finish the last of the food.

"Dunno," I know what she's asking. Will I ever find my missing cards?

"Do you think they're-"

"In Satellite?" I toss my empty box into the trash can, successfully landing it. "Maybe. It's not like I plan on going back there and lookin'."

"I don't know...maybe it's worth a shot," Elodie reaches for one of my hands and holds it in hers. Her dark eyes beam at me, a soft smile on her lips. "Maybe you'll find someone waiting for you there."

I swallow. "Sure," I stand up, letting her hand drop from mine. "Too bad it's illegal for us to go there, yeah?" I reach for my jacket, a dark blue fitted cropped jacket with black shoulder pads, and throw it over my dark red tank top. I catch a glimpse of myself in the small mirror on the wall. I look at myself and see black hair that's almost blue, gold eyes, and both the pentacles and star charmed necklaces around my neck. The piercings in my ear are what I got after I came to Satellite, but the two necklaces are items I arrived with. My fingers fiddle with the last item of my past life, a sigma-ring on my right-hand index. All of these were clues to who I _should_ be, but none of it added up. The thing that gives the most story was my D-Wheel, a heap of trash put together to create a working motor that somehow landed me in Neo Domino City.

But beyond that? Nothing. Everything else is Kallen's. Everything else I own is what I built myself starting from when I crash landed.

This is what I tell myself, anyway.

"Are you heading to work?" Elodie stands up from the chair while slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. "Do you need a ride? It's on my way."

"Thanks, but," I grab my helmet from its position from the floor and hold it up. "Have fun working as the government's lapdog."

Elodie puffed up her cheeks in fake annoyance. It's a joke between us. She'd been working lately as an intern for the Public Maintenance Bureau. "Have fun at the party," Elodie stuck out her tongue with a wave and a playful grin. "I _hope_ you meet someone nice there!" I wave back as she closes the door. The click echoes off the walls, the only noise in my now empty apartment.

* * *

"There she is!" Are the first words I hear as I enter the garage. Mateo, my coworker, spews some words I don't understand, but I know it's something in Spanish that would irritate me. Tanned skin, green eyes, and an egotistical face are how I would describe him. He thinks he's hot shit because he's the only one in the garage without a mark on his face. Or was, until I came along. "_Mi Amor,_ and here I thought you wouldn't come. The last I saw you, I held your hair back in the women's bathroom."

"Mateo," Devyn, a _majestic_ beauty with dark skin and dirty blonde hair, hisses at him. "Get back to work."

"Not after I check up on our rookie," Mateo slings his arm over my shoulder. I swipe at his arm, throwing it off. Mateo's smirk never fades from his face. I want to punch him. "So?"

"What do you want me to say?" I shrug off my jacket, placing it on top of my D-Wheel. "I kept up with you all night, jackass. Don't forget that. I can handle a few drinks."

"A _few drinks_. Right." Mateo snorted. "And yet I didn't score a single thank you for keeping you alive," Mateo dramatically sighed. "There's no appreciation for a savior."

"It must be surprising that women don't want to have sex with you," I replied in a deadpan tone. I hear Driss chuckle from the corner where's he's working on a broken engine. Driss, who came in around the same time I did, was a quiet man with dark skin and dark green hair. He was my favorite to work with. He just _knew_ machines.

"Oh come on, don't be like that-" Mateo was cut off when a remote came flying through the air. Mateo only barely caught it. He fumbled with the small device before safely securing it in his hands. Devyn was standing, a scowl across her perfect features.

"Put something on if you're going to talk," Devyn pushed her bangs out of her face, revealing the mark on the outside corner of her left eye. "It's easier to work if I can't hear you."

"No one appreciates me," Mateo cried but obliged. I chuckled. I sat down beside Driss. He handed me the torque wrench silently, and with a nod, I set out to work. We moved in perfect unison, all without speaking. It was bliss.

I don't hear at first what Mateo put on. I can hear him talking, but I don't listen. I put my focus on my work.

_"-and we're standing here with the King himself: Jack Atlas!"_

You have to be FUCKING kidding me.

_"King, what are your thoughts?"_

_"I've known that I was meant for the best."_

A deep voice blared through the TV. I don't hear anything else.

I...I know that voice. Why do I know that voice? It's in the back of my mind. It's so familiar, but so...wrong. How would I know him? It was impossible. I've never met him before. He's just some rich asshole born and raised to step on people like us to stay rich.

My head hurts.

"Kallen?" Driss stares at me in concern. I come back to reality with a shake of my head. The way he's staring at me, I know he called my name a few times before I finally heard him. Devyn shoots me a look, but I give her a thumbs up.

"_See_, I knew it! Our girl can't keep up with-" Mateo starts his way over, but I hold up my wrench in the air.

"One step and this flies towards your head." My words are half joking, but half serious. It's a gamble which side will win, and he knows it, but the smirk never fades.

He's won this round and he knows it.

* * *

"You didn't tell me this was a party for the new King of Games," I grumble beside Rise. I've resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to escape from Jack Atlas, but I could do my best to avoid him out of sheer spite. Rise has a death grip on my arm, but a joyful smile on her lips. She's radiating, but she always has been. Today she's wearing her pink wig, combined with a glittery gold dress, and light pink heels. Beside her, I'm wearing a black lace dress with a long flowing sheer skirt and wine red heels. The top has a deep v cut, exposing my pentacles necklace.

"_You_ didn't ask," Rise cheerfully replies. "Wait until you hear about the conversation we had last night," Rise has a mischievous grin. I let out a groan.

"I don't wanna know," I'm laughing. She lets go of my arm to grab two champagne glasses from a passing waiter, her charm in full swing as she thanks the man and blows him a kiss. He looks as if he might fall over on the spot.

"Careful," I tease. She winks at me as she hands me the glass.

"Not too much," She warns in a lovely hum. "After all, could we really have _two_ nights in a row where you tell me about you stood on top of the bar and-"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Yet I take the glass from her and sweep it down in one go. Rise laughs, her free hand covering her mouth before she lets out a pig like snort. Gods forbid some reporter to catch their idol acting like a dorky teenager. I swipe my chin with the back of my hand, thankfully avoiding smearing my lipstick. "You performin' tonight?" I ask.

"Nope," She pops the p. "Just invited. Although!" Her eyes light up. "Guess who got asked to perform at some new tournament coming up?"

"Who?" I ask dryly, my eyebrow raised.

"You know already!" Rise grabs onto my arm to stop herself from jumping up in down in excitement. "It's not just singing either. It's-!" Her face drops.

"What?" I tense. "What's wrong? Rise-"

"Someone's looking at you," She gets closer to me. I suck in a breath, my mind going all over the place. Then, just as quickly, she's grinning ear to ear. "You'll NEVER guess who it is!" She doesn't allow me to guess. I should have known she was just being melodramatic. "It's Jack Atlas! Jack freaking Atlas, _the _King, is staring at you! Kallen, I think he's interested!"

"Wild," My voice is monotonous.

"Oh, stop it," Rise rolls her eyes. "I bet you'd love talking to him. He's successful, popular, handsome-"

"And not Ike?"

"_And_ you'd love his D-Wheel. He calls it the Wheel of Fortune. Ring a bell? It's like your deck!"

Now that _is_ interesting. And curious. The Wheel of Fortune is one of the cards I'm missing.

"You win," I laugh, my head spinning to stare at this _mysterious_ King of Games. "Fine, I'll take a look-"

My breath hitches. I stare back at blonde hair, purple eyes, and yeah, a handsome face.

But that's not what gets me. If I thought his voice sounded familiar, his face? I see it somewhere in the back of my mind.

I know without a doubt that I know him.

And judging the way his eyes settle on me, the way he looks at my face, then down at my necklace, before sucking in a breath, I know he knows me too. I see him whisper a name, but I don't know what he says. I can't understand from this far away.

It feels like we're the only two in the room, just staring at each other. No one else at this party matters. I feel him, no- I know I feel a memory- but I can feel his hands pushing my hair behind my ear. I feel his hand around mine. We were running together, our voices melting together, laughing-

I can't breathe. It's too much. Too much is happening.

I see him start to make his way over. I don't know what comes over me, but I don't want to see him. I don't want to meet him. My mind is screaming at me to run, to get away, to-

The champagne glass cracks. I've lost control.

"I have to go," I say quickly, taking Rise by the arm and beginning to speed walk away.

"W-wait!" Rise is trying to follow at my pace. "I don't want to leave yet!"

"Then stay, but I'm going," I let go of her arm and start to walk. Rise reaches to take my hand. I stop. I close my eyes. _I have to go_. I can't be in this room anymore.

"Kal..." Rise's voice is soft. Caring. "Kal, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I..." I don't know what happened, happening, or... I don't know what's coming over me. I'm confused too. "I don't know," My voice is shaky. Rise's hand on mine tightens. I look up, turning to meet her eyes. I know my eyes are watering. "I want to go," I repeat. "I _need_ to go," This time, my voice breaks. It's when I notice the pressure around us. I shake. I lost control. I keep telling myself that. I've lost control. My emotions are all over the place, but I don't understand any of them. I don't know why I'm so upset. Rise's eyes widen. I force myself to take deep breaths, but I know I won't be able to concentrate until we leave.

"Then we're going." Rise is the one who takes the lead this time to the exit. "We'll drink wine and watch a movie at my place. You'll spend the night, just the two of us. Okay?" Rise looks back at me, her smile assuring me everything was okay. That I was okay. And I know I'm okay. I have Rise. She'll always be there for me.

But I look back one more time.

I see him. He sees me. He reaches out as if he could stop me, but the crowd converges around him. I can see him try to push through, to find me, but I'm already one step out of the exit.

I'm frightened. It's a feeling I'm used to, along with confusion.

It's because the past I want so badly to know is the same thing I'm terrified of.

"Let's go," Rise, the up and coming pop idol, smiles at me, her best friend. I don't deserve her. I never deserved her.

I don't deserve to know anything.


	2. Where I Want to Be

_"Who needs a dream?_

_Who needs ambition?_

_Who'd be the fool in my position?_

_Once I had dreams, now they're obsessions_

_Hopes became needs_

_Lovers possessions."_

_(Chess in Concert)_

* * *

_Listen to me. No, you're going to listen to me for once in your damn life, all right?! It's over! You need to get the hell out and run. Get help, I don't fucking know._

I see yellow. They're wiping their hand through their hair. I'm trembling, all the way down to the tips of my fingers, but I know it's not from fear. I feel in control of my emotions, a sensation that I had never been used to.

_I ain't leavin' without you!_

That's my voice. The sentence came as a hushed whisper, more of a hiss than anything else. I see magenta out of the corner of my eye. Someone moves from where they were leaning off of the wall and comes closer to our group.

_Do you think we got a choice? We need to split up. One of us needs to lead them away while the rest get away. That's an order. We can't fight this time._

His voice was calm. Stern. Someone comes beside me to hold my hand. It's gold. Their aura is gold, like mine, but maybe slightly different. That made sense. No one's aura was completely the same. Having an aura meant he was a Psychic, like me.

The images around me are blurry. I can't concentrate on a single object. It's as if there's a filter over my eyes, where someone put the out of focus wheel all the way up, completely distorting the world around. I feel a shot of adrenaline coursing through me as their words process through me.

_Get down!_

I'm pushed harshly to the ground by another person. Something _wet_ hits my cheek. Red is the only color I see. It's everywhere. I wipe my face, and my hand is smeared red. Someone is lying on top of me, hardly moving.

I hadn't even registered the gunshot until the shouting starts. I'm being forced onto my feet. They're telling me to take him and run, go get help, go doing something before-

_We surrender! I am the leader of the Arsenics, and we surrender. Don't shoot!_

I jolt awake, my breathing heavy. I turn, trying to find the loud noise, but sigh in relief. There were no guns. I had broken the light bulb in my lamp while I was dreaming.

At least...I hoped it was a dream.

No one was shot. I was okay. Everything was okay.

"Damn," I wiped my face with my hand. It's wet. I fling my hand forward to see what it is, but it's just my mind imagining things. I need to calm down. There's no blood, it's just tears. I'm not bleeding. I wasn't shot. No one was shot. I was crying. Just tears, Kal, no blood. Nobody's bleeding.

There was no one ever bleeding. It's just my mind playing tricks. I think.

I need fresh air. It's warm outside, probably, so all I do is velcro on my boots and fling my jacket over my tank top. Shorts are fine for a short walk. My clock says it's one in the morning, but I need a walk to calm down.

My apartment is in the heart of the Daimon Area, near where the normal duel tournaments happen. It's not safe, but it's cheap, which is all I care about. I'm not bothered that often, but it helps that I have friends in the Public Maintenance Bureau. By that, I mean Elodie's Dad and Brother are both officers, and they pretty much like me too.

I take a deep breath as I step outside. There's less light on the street I live on compared to most of the city, allowing a few stars to shine in the sky. However, the lights from the downtown area of Neo Domino City shines more prominent, reminding me I'm standing in the capital of duel monsters. It's a privilege to live here, or so I'm told. I could be in the Satellite.

Every day, I ask myself how I ended up here, but more importantly _why_ I came here at the attempt of my life. I know I'm an idiot. I make dumb decisions to get myself in trouble, but doing something knowing there's a chance I might not make it? I'm all for self-preservation. That's just who I am. My life comes first over anything, which is what gave me the strength to leave my shitty relationship with Ike.

Which makes me question, every day, what the fuck would make me leave the Satellite knowing I might not make it over alive.

Jack Atlas might know the answer, but how does that make sense? He's some rich prick from the Tops who became the King of Games. How does he know me, some no one garage girl from the Daimon Area? It doesn't make any sense. He's gotta have the wrong girl. Or maybe Rise was right, and he was only interested.

But there was the way he looked at me. He looked _at _me, like he knew me, like he knew every part of me. He looked like he knew me better than...well, than I knew myself. He looked right at my necklace, one of the only key clues from my past, and had something in his eyes that I craved to understand. And...there's me. There's the part of me that recognized him too. I could hear his voice, even if I couldn't understand the words, or what we were doing. I knew there was a past between us.

And it doesn't make any fucking sense.

I could ask him. It wouldn't be hard. Elodie works as Godwin's intern, and he's a prodigy of Godwin's. I could ask Elodie to set up a meeting between us, and I could ask him myself what he knew. Or I could ask Rise if we could go to another party, or even one of his duels, and I could meet him then. It would be too say to set up something between us because I knew exactly where he would be. If he really knew me, he could tell me my whole life story.

I shiver. My steps echo off the pavement as I shove my hands in my jacket pocket. My ponytail blows in the slight breeze. I need a haircut, I think. My hair is getting just below my shoulders. I just haven't had the time.

I can't stop thinking about him. Jack Atlas, the King of Games. Gods, do I even _want_ to meet him? A self-entitled asshole who only cares about how he gets to the top. Yeah, I'm that idiot. He knows nothing about me. He's got the wrong girl. There's _no_ way.

I'm Kallen. Just Kallen Rikiya. I'm a psychic duelist. I live in the Daimon Area, and I work in a garage near the fountain square. I graduated Duel Academia in the middle of my class. I wasn't the best, but I was nowhere near the worst. There's nothing else to me. Even if I knew...what difference would it make? The person I am wouldn't change.

Right?

I'm circling back around to my apartment. This was good for me. I needed a second to think. I'm trying to remember everything I need to do for tomorrow, but the list is short. Shower, pay rent, run and get groceries for the week. I'd just gotten paid yesterday. I think about giving Rise a call in the morning, maybe she-

_"Hey_." A voice hisses out. I freeze. At that moment, I realize I'm not alone. I turn slowly, coming face to face with a taller man, a mark running down the center of his forehead. He has a criminal mark.

I hadn't noticed him walking behind me. My eyes narrow. He's too close to me.

"What the hell do you want?" I lower my voice, trying to sound intimidating. Inside, I'm furious at myself. I should have noticed.

"I know who the fuck you are, you tomorrow bitch," He steps closer. I take a step back in defense. This seems to agitate him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I snap back, my hands leaving my jacket pockets to prepare for a fight. "Look, I'm just walkin' home. Get away, or I'm callin' Public Maintenance."

"Your little gang took everything from me. It's because of you I got this mark in the first place!" The man snarled, stepping closer. I tensed. Gang? What gang? I was never in a gang.

"You got the wrong girl-"

"I'd know you anywhere! The fucking Arsenic's _bitch_, the _tomorrow girl_," The way he says the name sends a chill up my spine. He spits it out, causing me to cringe when I see the spittle. His eyes pierce mine, and I see his fury. But that's not directed towards me, because I never did anything.

"You've. Got. The. Wrong. Girl." I voice each world slowly, stepping back once more away from him. He takes an enraged breath. I've said the wrong thing, but I couldn't care. It's the truth. "You got that? I wasn't in a gang." The Arsenics rings a bell, but I can't place it at the current moment. One asshole to deal with at a time, thanks.

"You're going to pay, you got that?! You don't got your team to help you!" The man steps forward, grabbing my wrist. I look up at him. I feel the pressure in the air rising. I can't breathe.

"Let go," I warn him, but my voice comes across shaky. He laughs. I close my eyes. "I said _LET GO."_ I push his chest. I feel when he finally releases his grip.

I also hear a crash. It sounds like someone hit the pavement. A breeze blows my ponytail back once more. I slowly open my eyes, only to see the man more than twenty feet away from me, clearly injured on the ground.

I did that. I used my powers on him. The man shakily got to his feet, his eyes full of fear.

"You-_you ain't some bitch_," He stuttered out, backing away. "You're a _witch._ A damn witch."

That's all I need to hear. I take off running. I don't look back to see if he's following, but judging by the fact I can't hear him following, I know he doesn't. I don't stop running until I make it back to my apartment, close the door, and lock it behind me. I sink to the ground, my back to the door, and don't stop sliding until my ass hits the ground.

I lost control. Again. Soon they're going to be hunting me down like the fucking Black Rose Witch. What would they even call me?

The tomorrow girl. I don't know that name. I don't know who the Arsenics are.

That's not me. That's not me.

_That's not me._

I reach for my phone, my hand instinctively dialing Ike's number. He knew how to control my powers. He was strong enough to stop me any time I lost control. He-

What am I doing? I stare at my phone. His number is on the screen, taunting me, begging me to stay on the line. I end the call instead hitting '2', my speed dial for Rise. I put the phone up to my ear. It only takes three rings before she picks up.

"_Hello_?" Her voice is groggy. I'd woken her up.

"Hey," I try to keep my voice as neutral as possible, despite the fact it was Rise. "Look, somethin' happened and-"

"_Do you need me to come over?"_

"No, stay there. I'll come over."

"_Okay, love you. Hope you're okay."_

Yeah. Me too.

* * *

"Isn't he hot?" Rise raised her eyebrow at me as she licked her spoon, which currently contained mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favorite.

"Who?" I pretend not to know who she was talking about. It was hard not to, considering we were currently watching his duel against some Nordic guy. I don't remember his name. I'm not interested, and I aim to make that painstakingly clear.

"They say he's on the rise, you know," Rise pointed her spoon at the TV. "Being the King of Games and all-"

"I don't care."

"Come on, you can't tell me you're not even a _little _interested-"

"I'm not even a little interested."

"Did you see the way he looked at you? You can't tell me you didn't notice."

"I didn't notice. I was too busy trying not to have an anxiety attack." I move my position on the couch, taking my legs off of Rise's lap so I sit straight. "Does it matter? Can't we just drop it?"

"Fine," Rise puts her nose in the air. I know the conversation isn't done, but she'll drop it for now. "Do my fortune."

"Sure," I shake my head, but I love when Rise asks, or _demands_. I reach for my deck on my belt and move so I'm on the opposite side of her coffee table. She sits down on the floor in front of me, and I shuffle my deck. "What spread were you thinkin'?"

"How about a love spread-"

"This is for you, not for me-"

"Fine!" She rolled her eyes dramatically and huffed. "You can't blame me for trying. Let's do a past, present, and future one."

"Nice," I set my cards on the table. My deck, while being a deck that's perfect for duels, also functions as a tarot deck. I set down three cards in front of Rise. I pull another card, showing it to her.

"This is you," I explain, showing VI. The Lovers. "This is the card that represents you."

"Accurate," Rise stretches out the word, a grin on her beautiful features. I roll my eyes as I set the card down. I flip over the first card, representing past.

"V. The Hierophant," I read. "It's upright. It's telling me you've shown a great deal of compassion and mercy. You take care of others." Rise is watching me with wide eyes, awaiting what I say. I pause. I slowly flip over the next card, representing the present. "Queen of Wands, also upright," I inform her. I smile. I can't help myself. "It says that things are looking up for you, and it's all positive. You're attractive. You're gaining success."

"Yeah!?" Rise moved in her seat in excitement. "What about my future? What does it say?" She can't contain herself. I laugh. It's cute. I reach my hand across the table to flip over the future, but I pause.

I know before I flip the card that it's not good. My cards are whispering to me, warning me. I lift this card up differently, deliberately moving it in a subtle way. "Nine of cups, upright," I read off, trying to make my voice even to disguise my lie. "It means you're going to be happy and good fortune is coming your way," I force a smile as I give a quick answer. Rise seems pleased with that answer.

I don't tell her that it was the nine of cups in reverse, meaning she was going to experience loss in some way. Something she wanted would leave.

Sometimes it was better to lie to make someone feel better. These were just silly fortunes anyway. The future could change at any point. This was just for fun.

"What does yours for today say?" Rise asked me with wide, curious eyes. Just to humor her, I pull a card.

"XVIV. The Sun," I tell her, showing the card towards her. "Apparently, something good's gonna happen to me today." I set my card back down into my deck. "We'll see about that. You know, because..." I trail off.

After what happened the other night, I couldn't imagine my fortune looking up. I had thought about it more, what the man was saying. I couldn't connect the dots. It's not like I could _force_ myself to remember- what was the point? It wasn't me. Even if it was, it wasn't me anymore-

"You got that face on," Rise poked my forehead, drawing me out of my thoughts. I blinked. Rise tilted her head to the side. "You know, that grumpy face you got." Rise smiled. "I think I know what would-"

"Rise, _no-"_

"I think you should give it a chance, or _him_ a chance-"

"Rise, _leave it the fuck alone_," My voice comes out harsher then I meant. Rise stares at me with large eyes. I suck in a breath. The room is quiet.

"_There you have it! Jack Atlas, our reigning King, has just won the match against Dragan-"_

"I'm sorry," I cut off the sound of the TV. Rise wordlessly turns off the TV. I don't look at Rise. "I went too far. You don't deserve that. I know you're trying to help."

"No, I could knock it off too," Rise takes my hand in hers and gives it a tight squeeze. "You're the only one for me, Kal. I'm here for you. You know that..." She blinks unshed tears out of her eyes. I sigh. I almost made Rise cry.

"Yeah," I agree. "I'm an ass. I know that."

"You got something on your mind. I get it," Rise moves a piece of hair behind my ear. The motion feels so natural, but it's not coming from her, but who-

I get up abruptly but don't let go of Rise's hand. I don't want to scare her, so instead I tug her hand closer to the window, so we can stare out of her fancy penthouse window and gaze at the city below. Rise is watching me.

"You know," Rise's voice is soft. "Someone out there has gotta know you." Rise's eyes are gazing at me in that way that lets me know she's thinking about me. "Remember that first week you were staying at my house, and we got all those papers for you in the mail?"

I remember. Someone had made me credentials, all for Kallen Rikiya. It's how I was able to become a normal citizen, and how I was able to enter Duel Academia.

"I already know someone knows me," I bump my shoulder to hers. "It's you."

Rise's ears turn red. "Wanna help me watch the kids this weekend?" She changes the subject, I notice. She does that when she's embarrassed.

"You know, I _really_ doubt someone likes you needs the spending money from some babysitting gig."

"Shut up, it's for some friends of the family. I like them. They don't get out much, you know that! They aren't even paying me, I _volunteered._"

I did know that. They were sweet kids who wanted to look up to someone. I was nervous spending time around them, but I liked spending time with Rise, and these kids _were _sweet. Ruka was on the quieter side, while Rua was louder, but both had been homeschooled their entire lives and didn't really understand the real world.

"Sure," I agree. _"_Sounds like fun."

* * *

I'm walking home. It's still daylight outside, which makes me feel better walking home. I'd spent the past few days at Rise's, only now going home because I needed a change of clothes. As much as I loved Rise, her bubble gum fantasy wasn't my aesthetic, not including the fact I couldn't even _fit _into her clothes if I tried. She was about four inches shorter than me with a small chest, and I had legs Rise described as "could outmatch a giraffe's neck".

There's no one following me today. I think. I thought I would notice by now. I still look instinctively around. My phone vibrates in my pocket, causing me to jump. I don't look at the name before I unlock my phone and press it to my ear.

"Yeah?" I answer. "What's up?"

"_Kal,"_ The voice on the other end causes me to freeze. "_I apologize. It took me a few days to realize you called. What is it that you need? Is everything alright?"_

Ike Garam. We dated for months. He's a selfish piece of shit who only cared about himself, and it took me facing Public Maintenance before I realized he was only in it for himself. If it hadn't been for Elodie, I don't-

"It was a mistake, got that?" I walk faster to my house. I'm fucking irritated this prick decided to call after I called him _days _ago. "Lose my number."

"_You called for a reason, did you not?_" I hated when he did that. He made it sound like _I'm_ the one who needed him, that I'm the one who needs him. I don't need him. I don't.

"I told you, it was an accident," I hiss back. I look behind me, my senses sharpening. I don't know if the phone call is making me paranoid, or if my instincts were right.

"_No one accidentally calls in the middle of the night. You lost control, didn't you?"_

He always hit the nail on the head. He knew me. I don't answer. I hear him chuckle on the other side.

_"I told you I could help-"_

_"_I don't need your goddamn help."

"_Are you sure?" _He pauses. He's waiting for me to say something, but I won't give him that satisfaction. "_If you didn't need my help, you wouldn't call, and you wouldn't lose control."_

I'm about to reply, to tell him to shove off on his opinions, but I stop. I turn around again. No, I'm sure of it. Someone is following me.

"Stay on the line," I tell Ike against my better judgment.

"_What is it?"_

"I think someone's following me," I tell Ike before I can stop myself. I mentally curse, but there's no going back. "I'm fine. Just stay on so it looks like I'm occupied."

"_I'm on my way. I assume you're heading home. I'll be there soon._"

"That's not what I _fucking asked_." It's too late. He hung up on me. I growl as I shove my phone back into my pocket. I don't need to turn back to know I'm still being followed. This jackass isn't even trying to hide it. I start taking odd roads to try and ditch him, but he's still there. What did they want? Why me?

I pass an alleyway. Someone grabs my hand and pulls me into the alleyway. I move to yell, to punch, but she turns me. The first thing I see is a wicked grin and red hair. Her eyes are alight with an entertained glint, her eyebrow slightly raised.

"You need to get away, don't you?" She puts her tongue in between her teeth in a gleeful smile, her free hand flowing in front of her mouth to signal to be quiet. She winks. "Let's ditch 'em," She whispers, her hand still on mine.

I don't have time to nod before she takes off. I have no choice but to follow.

There's a reason I don't let go. I can feel it all around us in the air. Her aura is a sea of teal, moving around us in a calming wave that washes over me. She can be trusted.

She's like me.

She's a Psychic.


	3. Somewhere Over the Rainbow

_"Somewhere, over the rainbow_

_Way up high_

_There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby_

_Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue_

_And the dreams that you dare to dream_

_Really do come true."_

_(The Wizard of Oz)_

* * *

We're sprinting through the street. The girl leading me is holding my hand in a death grip, but I'm the one who allows her. She seems to know exactly which ways to turn. I know after a few minutes that we're alone, whoever was following me is gone. We stop to catch our breath. I lean against the wall, my hand moving to push my hair out of my face. When I look up, I take a glance at my apparent 'savior'.

We're about the same height, maybe she's an inch or two taller than me, with long red hair that's pulled back in a high ponytail. Her bangs are pulled back by a green headband. I'm not sure how I missed it, but she's dressed eccentrically in high waisted red, blue, green, and yellow plaid shorts, a green lacy tank top tucked into her pants, and two necklaces hanging down that I can't get a good look at. On her feet are knee-high yellow socks, and light brown laced boots. There's a yellow messenger bag slung across her shoulder, which I noticed says _'not today, patriarchy.'_

She looks like a goddamn cartoon character instead of a real, actual human being. It takes me a second to register what is going on.

"That was something, wasn't it?" Her grin is wide. I look up, meeting large blue-green eyes. She's not from around here. Her accent gives it away, but I can't place where it's from.

"Yeah," I nod. "Thanks."

Her eyes scan me up and down. It makes me feel uncomfortable, like she's searching for something. Her expression lightens, and she laughs, a noise that sounds so genuinely giddy that it makes me do a double take in surprise. "I don't know who you pissed off, but hey, I'm glad I could help!" She offers me her hand. "People like us gotta stick together."

I don't think as I reach out and take her hand. I jump, a jolt connecting once our hands met. I go to say something, but the world disappears around us. I take my hand back in shock as I try to step away from her, but...wait, _what_?

We were just in an alleyway.

I look down at my feet. The ground is soft when I move back, and yeah, it's because it's sand. We're on a beach. _We're on a fucking beach._ I look around widely. It's obvious we're not in Neo Domino City anymore, judging by the fact the sky is literal space. There's a forest in the distance, but that's not important. I turn, facing the mysterious girl, who has the same grin on her face. She's not affected by our change of surroundings.

"What the hell did you do?" I demanded as I took a step closer. It had to have been here. "Where the _fuck _are-"

"We're in the Spirit World," The girl cut me off. Slowly, she starts to set her messenger bag down on the sand. "One of them, anyway. Sorry about dragging you in here without saying something, but hey, you felt it too," She looked back to me with a tilt of her head.

"Felt what?" I snapped. "This isn't fucking funny. You're taking us _back-"_

"That _zap_!" The redhead takes a step closer to me and takes my hand. I snatch it away from her, but she doesn't seem offended. "Something about your aura- it's.- it's.." She cuts herself off, her hands wringing themselves in the air. I realize she's trying to find the right word to describe how she feels. "I've only ever seen it on _one_ other person! That's gotta mean something!"

"You're insane," I blurted out. "Take a step back. What do you mean we're in the Spirit World?"

Her eyes widen. "Oh. Right," She sheepishly moves a stray flyaway hair out of her face. "I don't know how much you know about psychics, but you know there's different powers, right? Like how some people can manipulate aura's, or some people can see duel monsters while some people can actually summon duel monsters, while some people-"

"Let me guess. You can travel to the spirit world."

"Yeah!" Her face lights up. "They call people like me spirit walkers. Oh!" She sticks her hand out towards me. "I'm Lucy. I forgot to introduce myself."

"Kallen," I don't take her hand, not after what happened, but the temptation is there. Lucy chuckles as she drops her hand back to her side. She clearly wasn't put off, but I wasn't amused. The thought occurs to me that I could use my own powers to escape if I really wanted to. "Now what are you on?"

"_We're_ in the world of the Neo Spacians," Lucy explains as she taps her chin. She must have noticed my bewildered expression because she continues. "It's a type of deck. There's a bunch of different worlds, and-"

"This is the one we're on?"

"Yep!" Lucy cheerfully looks around. "I've got a lot of history here." She mistakes the look on my face, for she adds, "Don't worry, we're safe! A lot of the worlds have spirits that would try to hurt us, but not here. It's protected."

"That's cool I guess...?" I'm not sure how I should answer. I'm half convinced I'm imagining all of this, but something is telling me I knew all of this existed. Is that why I'm not having a bigger reaction? It's weird, but for some reason, I don't feel surprised. I swipe a hand through my hair in frustration. "Why bring us here?"

"It's because of you," Lucy replies honestly. Her eyes earnestly search mine, but I look away. "I need to know more. So!" Lucy takes a duel disk out of her messenger bag and straps it to her wrist. She nods to my backpack I laid on the ground. "We're going to duel!"

"What?" I blinked. "What is that gonna do?"

"Dueling is the best way to understand a person's heart, _and_ who they are as a person," Lucy speaks the words as if she's reciting them like a quote. I can also tell she truly believes every word of the cliche she babbled out.

"No." My response is direct.

"Okay," Lucy takes off her duel disk, sets it on the ground, and moves to lay down in the sand. Her arms stretch out to move behind her head. A carefree smile is stretched out on her face.

"That's it?" I'm left even more confused. "You're not gonna argue?"

"Nah. Where's the fun in that?" Lucy looked up at the sky. "Let's talk instead."

Just who was she? "What do you want?" I'm starting to get angry. "You help me, then kidnap me, and now you want to _talk_?"

"Pretty much," Lucy agreed. "You can ask me a question first if that's gonna helps break the ice."

Lucy sounded so genuine. My instincts were telling me I could trust her, but I wanted to run. I had that option, but a part of me wanted to know more about her. She was unpredictable, something I found interesting. I could feel my annoyance start to turn into both curiosity and exasperation.

"What's your history here?" I find myself asking. I'm playing along with her game. I'm telling myself I'm just doing this to learn more so I can leave this situation.

"Good question!" Lucy stretches her hand in the air, reaching for the sky. "You could say I was _found_ here."

"Found here?" I echo. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

"It's pretty literal, actually. Where we are is where my parents found me." Lucy sits up, her knees tucked against her chest. She wraps her arms around her knees and looks up at the sky. "I think I was around five, but I'm not really sure. I've always been able to come into the Spirit World. And...I found this world. I remember..." Lucy trails off, a wistful smile covering her features. "I remember building a sandcastle with the spirits who live here. It's when my Dad found me. I ran from him, but then I was found by my Pappa. They adopted me and I've been with them since. In a way...this world was my beginning." Lucy turned to face me, her eyes shining.

"What about your real parents?" I found myself asking.

"I don't remember them," Lucy admitted with a shrug. "I think they...well, you know about Zero Reverse."

I did. It's how the Satellite was created. A large earthquake came through and destroyed the city, killing millions in the process. Familiars were destroyed. Kids were left orphans. The thought of it made my stomach drop. I think it's because of the implications of what the Zero Reverse caused, but I doubt it's just empathy towards those from the Satellite.

"I don't remember anything from before, if I'm being honest," Lucy's words make me sharply turn to look at her. "My adopted parents named me because they said I was singing a Beatles song to myself in Danish. Or trying to." Lucy giggled. "They said I didn't really know the words, or where I picked up the song."

"I.." I trail off. My mind is trying to wrap around what she said. "You...you don't remember anything?"

"No," Lucy tilted her head to the side. Her eyes were wide with what I assumed was curiosity. "Something wrong over there?"

I'm not sure how to answer. It's an odd thing for someone to be able to relate to me. It's not often you hear of someone else with memory loss. I tell myself it's different, she was five, but that feeling of happiness doesn't leave me. I bite my lip. Lucy's gazing at me in concern, and I swallow. "I..." I look away. "Look, do you tell everyone your life story when you just meet them?"

"It's a hobby!" Lucy grins widely.

"That's a shit hobby."

"What can I say? I'm a traveler. Us travelers like to talk," Lucy takes a handful of sand in her hands and slowly lets it fall back into the ground. "Been so ever since I graduated from Duel Academia. You meet people, maybe help them out, and tell your life story. I've got a hell of a lot of stories." Lucy looks up to meet my eyes. "So, what can't you remember?"

"Huh?" I jerk back. How the hell did she guess that? "What-"

"Oh, shit," Lucy lets out a loud laugh. "Sorry! That probably took you by surprise. I saw your face changed after I said I couldn't remember anything, and kinda took a guess."

"Damn, how many powers do you got?"

"That's not really a power. Just what I told you, really. You know, talk and see duel spirits, summon them-"

"And traveling to the spirit world."

"Yeah, that too," Lucy raised an eyebrow. "You know a lot about me. What about you? What can you do?"

What could I do?

Lose control. Fuck things up. Destroy everything I touch.

"I'm an amateur fortune teller," I say instead. "I can't see or talk to duel monsters, or even summon them, but..." I pull out my deck. "I can kind of predict what's going to happen. My cards...I guess they tell me things? I don't know."

"I know someone like that," Lucy speaks earnestly. "Is that all?"

I hesitate. I don't want to tell her about my other power. I'm not sure how she would react. It's not a power a lot of people have. It's one I don't like using, because of Ike. I despise how he made me use it.

"You don't have to tell me," Lucy sets her hand on my knee, maybe to comfort me. I don't swat it away. "I think I can take a guess."

"How did you deal with it?" I ask suddenly. I'm not sure what comes over me. Lucy blinks her large eyes. "Starting over, I mean," I continue in embarrassment. I can feel my cheeks grow hot. "Not knowing who you are and moving on."

"That's a lot of emotion," Lucy notes calmly.

"Yeah..." I can feel my throat start to dry up. I cough awkwardly. "Probably. Maybe." Lucy doesn't take her eyes off of me.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lucy's voice sounds like a soft flutter. I close my eyes, letting out a sigh. "Okay," I can't see her, but Lucy squeezes my knee. "It was easy to change. I gained two Dads who loved me. I learned how to use my powers, and how to help others with them. It's because they found me that I was able to become a hero I've always dreamed about, just like them." The silence stretches out between us. Lucy's waiting for my response.

"Don't you want to know?" I take in a shaky breath. "Who you were?"

"I care about who I am now," Lucy sounded passionate. "Wanna tell me what's wrong, supergirl?"

I laugh at the stupid nickname, despite my feelings. I open my eyes with a shake of my head. "It's fucking stupid," I admit. "I can't remember anything. I crashed about a year and a half ago, and before then?" I swipe my hand through the air. "Nothing."

Lucy is watching me. She's not saying anything. It takes me a second to realize she's waiting, listening, checking to see if I'm done talking. "And don't you say you're sorry or feel something for me. I'm sick of that shit," I feel my fists tighten by my side. "I just...I don't fucking know."

"It's okay not to know, I think, since you don't know what you don't know," Lucy lays her free hand next to my hand, not touching, but there I think to tell me I'm not alone. I don't understand why the gesture is so _nice_. "Do you want your memories back?" Lucy questions.

I open my mouth to answer, but I close it again. "What do you know?" I say instead.

"I could help you find them," The way Lucy says the sentence, with so much joy, makes me flinch. "I know a lot of people who could-"

"No," I say the word too sharp, but Lucy doesn't draw back. She simply nods.

"Okay," Lucy's tone is still upbeat. I don't understand what's wrong with her. I imagine how Rise would have reacted if I snapped at her, with the wounded look in her eyes she always had, but Lucy took it in stride. Nothing seemed to bother her.

"Where are you from?" I change the subject. "Your accent is weird."

"Sweden!" Lucy takes her hand off of my knee to clap my hands together. "My adopted parents- My Pappa is from there, while my Dad is Japanese, but they own a school for Psychics up north. That's where I'm from."

"A school for Psychics?" I frown.

"It's not as uncommon as you might think," Lucy winks at me. "Both of my parents are Psychic. They like to say I was their inspiration to start. They...well, they're amazing," Lucy's hand moved to clap one of her necklaces in her fingers. I take a closer look, realizing one had a ring with multiple gems, while the other looked almost like it was a compass. "I want to be like them. That's why I'm traveling. I _want_ to help people."

"Why Japan?" I murmur.

"Because I think I'm originally from here. I mean, yeah, I'm half some kind of European, but I know I'm also half from Japan." Lucy plays with the ring on her necklace. "And...have you ever heard of the Arcadia Movement?"

I've heard of it. They tried to come up to Ike and I before, but we ran. Ike said they try to find Psychics to use for their own good. It was ironic, coming from him. "You mean that cult?"

"It's also a _school_ for Psychics, but sure, the cult," Lucy laughs. "Funny enough, it was actually started by a former student of my Dad's. Some weird shit is going on there, and I think it has something to do with the sudden spike in deaths for Psychics in Japan."

"Wild."

"I'm gonna find out more and stop them," Lucy's eyes flashed, but she smirked. "That's what a hero does."

"All by yourself?" I snort.

"Why not?" She challenged. "It only takes one person to start a revolution."

"You sound hopeful."

"You sound pessimistic."

"You're not wrong," I let my fists relax to feel the sand below me. "What do you plan on doing to take them down?

"Why?" Lucy wiggled her eyebrow in amusement. "You wanna help?"

"No. It's just a question."

"And it's _my_ secret operation," Lucy stuck her tongue between her teeth. "But, if you want...I can help you too."

"How?" My tone is bored.

"Name it," Lucy leans forward.

"I have nothing I want." That's a lie. It might be the biggest lie I've ever told.

"Fine!" Lucy leans back with a roll of her eyes. "Be like that!" She crossed her arms over her chest. "But listen here. We're friends now." Lucy might be pretending to be upset, but she still has that cheerful grin on her stupid face.

"So, do you kidnap all your friends?"

"Just my favorites," Lucy uncrosses her arms and glances at the sky once more. I join her. The silence is peaceful. I find my gaze looking at Lucy, trying to read her. I want her expression to change, to show who she truly is, but it doesn't. Her aura is different from Ike's. His was unsettling. It felt like syrup in a sense that it made you feel dizzy. It felt made me feel like my head was constantly in the clouds, like my feet were never truly on the ground when I was with him. Lucy's felt...I don't know how to describe it. The air feels light around us. I don't feel any more on edge than I usually am.

"Ruby!" I hear an exciting voice shout from beside me. I glance over to see a purple cat-like creature jumping onto Lucy's laugh, climb onto her shoulder, and nuzzle her neck. Lucy is giggling the entire time.

"What," I can't help but stare.

"Kallen, meet my friend Ruby Carbuncle! Ruby, meet my good friend Kallen." Lucy stretches her arm out. Ruby climbs onto it, snakes its way down Lucy's arm, and doesn't stop until its face is right in front of mine. I try not to pull back out of instinct, instead I raise my hand. Ruby bumps its head into my palm. I can't stop the smile that stretches across my face. Lucy seems to be enjoying every second of what's happening.

"So these are your cards," My voice is light.

"A gift from my Pappa after I graduated," Lucy confirmed. "Which reminds me!" Lucy lifts her hand up, throwing Ruby into the air. It disappears in a burst of red light. "Here!" Lucy shoves her phone into my hand.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" I'm puzzled.

"What do you think? Put your number into it!" Lucy rolled her eyes playfully. "Jeez, have you never had friends before?"

"Not ones who force their numbers into my phone."

"Well, gotta start somewhere!" Lucy looks at me expectantly. I sigh. I text myself a simple '_hey'_. I can't help but shake my head. "So, what do your friends usually ask from you?" Lucy takes her phone back and shoves it into her messenger bag.

"I dunno. Fortunes?" That's all I'm useful for.

"So do mine," Lucy looks at my deck. "How's it work?"

"Uh..." I'm trying to think of the words to explain it. "Well, I could do a spread. For me, I kind of just pull a card, and it gives me the general prediction for the day."

"And?" She's waiting. I pause. Reaching for my deck, I pull out the top card. My breath hitches in my throat.

XVIV. The Sun. I don't usually pull the major Arcana for a daily prediction. If I do, it usually represents someone in my life.

This was the same prediction I had at Rise's. The card is telling me this card represents Lucy.

This was the good thing that was meant to happen to me. Lucy is my good thing. For me to draw a card that represented her meant she would most likely become someone important in my life.

"Well?" Lucy tried to peak at the card I drew, but I already put it away.

"I change my mind," I speak quickly. Lucy stops, for the first time caught off guard. For some reason, that fills me with a type of joy I can't explain. "Let's duel." I stand up, my hand reaching for my backpack where my duel disk is. Lucy is still sitting in the sand. "Aren't you getting up? This was your idea," I strap my duel disk to my wrist dealer.

It takes Lucy a second. Her look of dumbfounding makes me chuckle. This seems to snap Lucy out of her stupor. "Yeah!" Her face changes in a second, instead she looked excited. "Get ready to get your game on!" Lucy straps her duel disk to her wrist.

"You said this will help us learn more about each other, yeah?" I take a few steps back. "Get ready. I won't go easy."

"You think I will?" Lucy was almost jumping up and down. "Trust me. You won't know what's coming!"

"_Duel!"_ We both shout into the air.

The change in the air is sudden. Any feelings of doubt I had about Lucy evaporated the moment I pulled that card. XVIV. The Sun. It's a card that represented joy, happiness, optimism. For her to represent that card meant she was genuine in her good intentions.

I didn't listen to my cards before, but I will now.

It's about time for 0. the Fool to start her new beginning.

And maybe Lucy was right in her twisted logic. I can't say I knew her heart by the end of the duel, but I knew she was someone who could be trusted.

I don't think she can help me. I don't think I could help _her._

* * *

"So, this is your place?" Lucy had followed me back home. She gazes at the small apartment with an appreciative gaze. "You know, you could start a garden on your balcony."

"I kill plants I own," I set my bag down on the counter. Seven missed calls from Ike. Apparently, the Spirit World didn't have great reception. Oh well. Delete. "Do you have a place around here?"

"Nope!" Lucy sets her bag down on the counter beside mine with a loud _thump_. "I don't know anything about Japan."

"Wait...are you saying you came here, knowing you wouldn't have a place to stay?"

"Pretty much!"

"How the fuck did you know where to go when we were running?"

"I didn't!" Lucy cackled. "I guessed on which way to go. We lost them, so wins a win in my book."

"You're insane," I rub my eyes with my fingers. "You're fucking insane," I repeat. I open my mouth to say something else, but there's pounding on the door. Both Lucy and I turn sharply, and I suck in a breath.

_"Kallen!" _I knew who it was before he spoke. "_I know you're in there. Come out, or-"_

"Who is that?" Lucy's voice is low. For the first time, she's trying to be quiet.

"Ex," I almost growl out the word. "He's a piece of shit."

"Want me to take care of him?"

"Wait, no-" It's too late. Lucy's already skipping to the door. She pulls it open, letting the door hit the door stop on the wall.

Ike Garam is on the other side. He looks non-threatening with his dark maroon hair and brown eyes covered behind square-framed glasses, but there's more underneath the handsome, charismatic boy.

There's a lot of anger. A lot of resentment. We're the same, in that way. We're both not good people.

At least, that's what he made me think. All of that resentment? He encouraged it. All that bitterness? The _want_ to hurt? He _made_ me...me.

But I don't want to be that version of me.

Ike blinks when he sees Lucy. "Who are you?" His voice is quiet, unassuming. He does this when he meets new people. It's how he keeps up his facade. "Where's Kallen? I need to talk to her. I think she's-"

"I know you," There's a shift in Lucy. She straightens her posture. For the first time, I see her eyes narrow, her lips forming a smirk. "Ike Garam," Her laugh is breathless, almost disbelieving.

Ike seems caught off guard. "Do I know you?" He sounds confused. I move to the side, revealing myself in the open. Ike's eyes widen. He steps forward, his hand reaching out, but Lucy steps in front of him.

"Get out of the way, please." Ike still sounds gentle. "She's my girlfriend. I'm worried about her. I'm supposed to help her learn how to control her powers-"

"Cancel it. I'm her new tutor," Lucy sounds so confident. Ike pauses. "And if I know you, you're not helping her. She told me you were her ex. You're using her."

Ike, ever the pretender, shoots his head up, his eyes widening with hurt. "I care about her, I would never-"

"_Drop it_," Lucy's tone is harsh. I'm surprised. I can't help but do anything but watch. "What do you want? You know already you can't get your Father out."

Wait, what?

I don't get what's she's saying, but Ike does. It's like a switch goes off, his mark coming off. A scowl shows through.

"What the fuck would you know?" He takes a step forward, but Lucy doesn't move. "What do you know about my Father?" I could feel the pressure spike in the air, but I wasn't sure who it was coming from. I closed my eyes, feeling out, and I realized it was coming from Ike. I've felt his anger before.

I don't think I ever felt his fear.

"He's a murderer," Lucy continued. "And you want to free him."

"Ike," I can't help but call out.

"_Shut up_," Ike said out loud. I wasn't sure who he was saying this to. Maybe both of us. "We could have done it. With your powers, Kal-"

"Don't," Lucy held up her hand in defense. All this time and her aura remained unchanged. She truly wasn't afraid. My knees are shaking.

"He didn't deserve to be trapped there!" Ike snaps. "What the hell do you know, you _stupid_-"

"I _know_ because my Dad is the one who made sure he stayed trapped there when everyone else came back to Earth," Lucy raised her chin in the air. "We know each other, Ike Garam. We're the second generation."

"...What?" Ike takes a step back.

"I'm Lucy. Lucy _Andersen._" She put emphasis on her last name. Lucy seemed amused by the whole ordeal. "If it helps, you can add a hyphen, and then Yuki to the end, but let's face it." Lucy twirled her ponytail. Lucy took a step forward, breaking the gap between them. "You already know who I am." Lucy took a step back until she was inside the apartment. "And don't come back!" Lucy slammed the door closed. There's a beat of silence while Lucy rubs her hands together, a pleased grin across her face. "That was fun!" Lucy turned back around to face me. I've been frozen this entire time, watching the scene fold in front of me in shock. I can't stop shaking.

Lucy stood up to Ike like it was _nothing_. She wasn't scared. She had to have felt his energy, his _power_. But she did it without backing down. Just to help me, someone she doesn't know.

I have to grip the edge of the counter to keep myself from falling over. I feel like I'm going to throw up. If Lucy hadn't been here...would I be with Ike? Would I have taken him back?

"Why the hell did you do that?" I barely mutter the words out.

"Hey, Kal," Lucy takes my hands in hers and gently leads me over to my couch. I sink down into the cushions, my hands trembling. Lucy rubs them in between hers as she sits next to me. "It's okay. You're okay."

"We deserve each other," I can't stop the words coming from my mouth. "He-_he-"_

"No one deserves to be used," Lucy assures me. "And Ike...I know _him_. Or...I guess I know his family." Lucy pauses. "They're not good people. His Dad...His Dad is something else. My Dad said he manipulated people to try and rule over the Spirit World. He...he..." Lucy took a shaky breath. "He sacrificed someone who really loved him. And...gods, no one deserves that kinda ending."

"You thought that would be me," I realize. Lucy doesn't say anything. "Did you really meant what you said?" I interrupt. Lucy perks her head up, her gaze confused. "You know. Teaching me."

"Well, yeah," Lucy says it like it's obvious. "Why would I say something I didn't mean? If you're having trouble with your powers, I kinda got experience with teaching that sorta thing." Lucy sticks her tongue between her teeth and laughs. "I've worked at a school for Psychics. Okay, not technically, but you get what I mean. It's my thing. You need help, I got you. We're friends."

"Yeah. Friends..." I want to thank her, but I'm not sure how. I don't deserve her. I don't deserve a lot of things. "You need a place to stay, yeah?" I nod towards one of the rooms. "I got a small office. It's not much, but it's something. You help me, I help you."

"Deal!" Lucy stretches her hand out. "Don't worry, I won't zap us somewhere this time. Probably," Lucy winks. I laugh. This time, I don't hesitate to take her hand in mine. "From now on, I'm your teacher, and I'm your student."

"Kinky."

"Not...not like _that_!" Lucy lets go of my hand as she collapses into giggles. "Weirdo."

I roll my eyes, my hand reaching for my remote. I turn on the TV. A duel is happening.

_"And the King, Jack Atlas-"_

The TV turns back off just as quickly as it came on. Lucy looks to me with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't worry about it," I speak quickly. "It's just some jackass I can't get away from. I see his face everywhere, and it's starting to piss me off."

"Riiiight," She stretches out the word. She looks like she's thinking about something. "Wanna do something tomorrow?" She asks suddenly. "Something fun."

"Sure," I stand up. It's dark outside. It hits me how exhausted I am. "I'm heading to bed. Goodbye until tomorrow." I'm walking away when I hear Lucy on the couch, collapsed in giggles. I face her. Lucy has a hand covering her mouth.

"Sorry!" Lucy is still giggling. "I've never heard anyone say that before!"

I find myself laughing too. "Yeah, I don't know where that came from," But it felt natural to say.

"Goodnight, friend," Lucy waves at me.

I smile. When I close my bedroom door, a text goes off from my phone. I pull it out.

An unknown number reads back a simple _'hey'._ I save the number under my contacts as Lucy Andersen.


	4. Come to a Party

_"See I'm an open book, have a look,_

_This ain't no pick up game_

_I heard your pretty voice_

_Then we saw eye to eye on all that music stuff_

_Jot on fluff, we didn't have to try._

_Now isn't that rare? That kind of connection."_

_(Dogfight)_

* * *

When I wake up in the morning, there's a blue post-it note stuck beside my pillow. I reach over to grab it, my body moving sluggishly to sit up. I can't help but smile. The small piece of paper was cut in the shape heart.

_Be home late!_

_LAY_

Lucy signed her name with a heart beside it. Instead of leaving a text, she'd always leave a note somewhere where she knew I could see it. It had been nearly a week since Lucy unofficially moved in. I knew without a doubt that she had been a positive light in my life, one that was well needed.

"Kal! I let myself in!" Rise's voice flutters in from the living room. I set the note down on my side table and sigh as I stand up. I'm just in a t-shirt I normally wear for bed.

"Yeah?" I tug on my hair tie until my dark hair tumbles down. It's been growing lately, reaching just past my shoulders. Rise turns. This day she's not wearing a wig. Instead, her natural blonde hair is pulled back into two pigtails, the ends colored pink and purple from one of the days we were bored and Rise decides she wanted to _experiment_. She's dressed casually in an oversized shirt tucked into her high waisted shorts, but she still lights up in the entire room.

It's weird. Rise and Lucy are both large spots of light in this otherwise murky world but in completely different ways. Rise was a spotlight that demanded attention and lived to entertain others. Lucy was eccentric and didn't care what others thought of her. Rise would always care.

I shouldn't compare the two.

"You're awake!" Rise beams at me.

"Barely."

"You better be awake. Remember where we're going?" Rise sits on the couch, her eyebrow raised. I give her a side glance as I start to make coffee. "You said you'd help me babysit!" Rise gives an exaggerated sigh.

"I didn't forget. You didn't give me a chance to answer," I remark as I pour myself a cup of coffee and another for Rise. I come closer to the couch and hand Rise the cup, which she accepts happily.

"You've been MIA this week," Rise notes.

"Have I?" I hadn't even noticed. I've tried to text Rise every day, but maybe I _was_ distracted.

"Did something happen?" Rise leans closer to me with a frown. Her free hand rests on my knee. I shuffle uncomfortably on the couch.

"Not really," I mutter. Rise looks like she doesn't believe me. I drink my coffee to avoid speaking. Rise opens her mouth like she's about to say something, but just as quickly closes it.

"Hey, I'm coming in!" A new voice sounds at the door. For a minute I think it might be Lucy, and I turn, but the minute I see the light magenta hair I let out a sigh I hadn't even realized I was holding. It's just Elodie.

"Wow, didn't expect you guys to be hanging out together," Elodie jokes. I chuckle nervously. "I've got good news," Elodie holds up two tickets. "Godwin's throwing some fancy party for the King, and I managed to score you two some VIP passes. There are _some_ perks from being a lowly intern, but this lowly intern doesn't want to go to high-class parties."

"Elodie! You're the best!" Rise quickly stands up to snatch the tickets from Elodie's hands. She spills some of the coffee on the ground in her excitement.

"Hey, watch it, I want my security deposit back," I tease.

"Sorry!" Rise sets the cup down on the table. "But this is so cool! Kallen, maybe the King will ask you out this time!"

"I'm not encouraging this."

"Just go. They're for you two, so you should have fun." Elodie looks at me with a grin. "And _maybe_ you'll actually make friends."

"I'm in a relationship."

"If you're talking about your D-Wheel, I'm going to hit you."

"No one's gonna treat me better than her," I glance to the blue stack of post-it notes and begin writing a note for Lucy to stick on the fridge, telling her I won't be home until late.

"Who's that for?" Rise frowns. I realize this might seem weird, as I don't think I told them about Lucy. It never came up.

"Now that you mention it..." Elodie's eyes scan to the office, where the door is wide open. There's a bed in there now and clothes are thrown on the floor. "I don't think I've ever seen you wear that many colors before, Kal."

"I've got someone staying' with me for a while," I answer with a shrug. Both Rise and Elodie widen their eyes, while Rise's mouth drops open in shock before she covers it with her hand. "What?" I shuffle defensively. "She's fine. She's-"

"_She!?"_ Rise has a tone I can't begin to describe. I notice her body tense.

"Yeah. Her name's Lucy," I stand up from the couch and set my now empty coffee mug in the sink. "What's the problem?"

"Sorry," Elodie is the one who chooses to answer. "I guess...we just wouldn't expect this from you." I don't answer. Elodie hesitates. "It's just not you to do something like this. To-"

"To what? Trust someone?" I turn back around and face them. Elodie looks guilty, while Rise won't look at me. "You guys would like her. She's pretty...out there," I settle on the term. Neither answer.

"I'd like that," Elodie finally replies. She smiles genuinely at me. "Right, Rise?" But Rise doesn't answer. She takes a breath, smiles, and grabs my hand.

"Let's show Rua the tickets," Rise says instead. "I think he'll be jealous to know we're seeing his idol at a party tonight!"

It's a sudden conversation change, I notice. I don't know what her problem is, but I shrug it off.

"Sure," I nod at her. "I bet he'll be pissed."

* * *

"_WHAT!?"_ Rua Sakamoto wails, his hands flying towards the two tickets in my hands. I stretch them higher in the air out of his reach. "Gimme! Gimme those tickets, I wanna see the King!"

"Too slow," I smirk. "Gotta be faster than the master of faster if you wanna meet the King." I throw in that corny title they gave Jack Atlas just to provoke Rua further. It works, as he starts flailing to try and reach the tickets.

"Come on! He's my favorite duelist! Lemme have them! Lemme have them!"

"Rua, you're embarrassing me," Ruka muttered from her spot on the couch. I shot her an amused look, but she was looking out the window, a faint pink coloring her pale cheeks.

Rua and Ruka were twins, now fourteen. Yet, they couldn't have been any more different. Rua was a ball of energy, while Ruka was more reserved. She had been a sickly child, and due to the fact that their parents were some famous duelists in the pro-leagues, they were left at home to be homeschooled by a series of tutors. As far as I knew, they hadn't seen their parents in over a year. They had few friends, but since Rise's parents had friends with their parents, Rise vaguely knew of them. She had reconnected with the twins a few years ago. I knew she felt bad about the fact that they rarely had visitors, which is why I was invited along. It was more people they could interact with, Rise had said, but I always told her that I wasn't the best influence on these kids. She always ignored me.

I liked the kids. If things went well, they would start Duel Academia here in Neo Domino City next year. Rua was excited while Ruka was more nervous.

There was another reason I came around. Ruka had an aura to her, a light blue that marked her as a psychic. Rua's aura was _very_ faint, but still present. I don't think he's actually a psychic, but it's more some twin bullshit that I don't pretend to understand. I'd have to ask Lucy about it. But when Ruka's powers fully developed, she'd need _someone_. Unfortunately, I was the best option for her, for now.

"Rua, you're too young to go!" Rise's tone was scolding.

"He can go," I smirk mischievously. "If he can beat me in a duel."

"You're on!" Rua runs for his duel disk.

"Rua, you've never beaten Kallen in a duel," Ruka sounds annoyed with her brother.

"Rua, you're not going. Kallen, stop teasing him!" Rise gave me a pointed look.

"Pleeeeease?" Rua stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. "I wanna see the King! He's the champion! I heard no one can beat him a duel! That makes him the best."

"I bet I could beat him in a duel," I pipe up.

"That's not true!" Rua stomped his foot. "You'd _never _beat the King. He's unbeatable!"

"Ouch. There goes that D-Wheel I was planning on making for your sorry ass."

"Kal, we don't call kids assholes-" Rise sighed with a laugh.

"W-wait, I didn't mean it!" Rua cried out. He held his hands in the air. "Please, Kallen, you promised you'd make me a D-Wheel! Please? Pleaaaaaase!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just messin' with you," I swiped my hand through his hair playfully. "You only like me when I'm plannin' on makin' stuff for you. I see how it is. It's why Ruka is my best friend."

"_Whaaaat!?"_

"Stupid," Ruka rolled her eyes. "Can you do my fortune?"

"Can you do mine!?"

"Sure," I move to sit in front of Ruka. "Rua, it says you need to respect your elders, or else you won't win any duels."

"You didn't even look at your cards!"

"I'm a mind reader. My cards told me so."

"Kallen!" He stretched out my name in a whine. I laughed. Rise seemed to be in a better mood. She was watching us with a smile stretched across her pretty features.

I pull out a card. XVIII. The Moon. This card represented Ruka. "You're having anxiety," I hear what my card is telling me. "Your cards are talking to you again, aren't they?" I look to Ruka. She was tense. I didn't need her to nod to know I was right. "You should talk to someone about it," I put my card back in my deck. "You know, so you can start understanding your powers."

"Who would I talk to?" Ruka stares at me with large gray-gold eyes.

"I've got a friend who can talk to spirits. I can tell her about it and see what she can do. She's a good teacher. Name's Lucy," I rattled off the information. I look out of the corner of my eye to see Rise was biting her lip at the mention of Lucy. I didn't get what her issue was but I brushed it off. If she met Lucy, things would be fine.

"Yeah," Ruka nodded. "I'd really like that," She smiles at me, and I smile back. I can't help myself. I love these kids.

"Well!" Rise interrupted in a pitchy tone. "We should get ready for the party. We can talk about this some other time."

"Yeah, sure," I shrug. Rua starts begging for us to take him, but we wave him off with a laugh. We don't take him seriously.

But there's a bugging thought in the back of my mind. I want to know what's bothering Rise. She's pressed about something, and I think it has something to do with Lucy. I can't figure out what or why.

* * *

"What a surprise. They ask you to perform," I give an entertained side-eye to Rise.

"I can't help being the prettiest and most talented in the room," Rise flips her hair back. She was wearing a pink wig with purple ends. Her dress was short, glittery, and shifted colors as she moved, as she was wearing holographic sequins.

I, on the other hand, went for a short, red, body con latex dress. On my feet are closed-toe black stilettos. My lips form a smirk. "How people must hate you," I roll my eyes.

"It would be a shame for people not to hear my voice," Rise flutters her eyelashes. I snort. "Which reminds me!' Rise jumps. "I forgot to tell you! Guess who you're looking at?"

"Do you really want me to answer that."

"No. I'll tell you!" Rise is beaming. "You're currently talking to the announcer for the Fortune Cup!"

"The...Fortune Cup?"

"Yep! It's some tournament coming up in the summer. They asked me to perform, and be the MC! Isn't that stellar?"

"They couldn't find someone more qualified?"

"Hey! I've been the MC for some of your duels in the Daimon Area!"

"I don't know how to break it to you, but you're gonna have to do some research before they let you up there."

"What do you mean!?"

"For starters, you actually have to know the _names_ of the cards instead of making up your own."

"I can learn!" Rise puffed up her cheeks in mock anger. "I'll show you! I'll prove I can do it!"

"Don't worry, princess, I know you can," I take her hand in mine and squeeze. Rise instantly lights up. She swings our hands, but before she can say something, one of the event managers comes by and whispers something in her ear. Rise pouts.

"I gotta go," Rise winked at me. "Watch me. I'm gonna steal their hearts."

"Oh, don't worry. You've already stolen mine," I joke back. Rise laughs as she kisses my cheek.

"Wait for me afterward!" Rise waves at me as she walks away to take the stage. I watch as she leaves. Rise has this way of commanding the attention of anyone she sees. She's dazzling on the stage.

"_There_ you are," A voice comes from behind me. I turn sharply, a curse leaving my lips.

"_Fuck_, do you gotta sneak up like that?" I glare at whoever was behind me. My breath leaves my throat. I had been doing a damn good job at ignoring the star of the party, but apparently, my luck had run out.

Jack Atlas stared down at me, an unreadable expression on his handsome face. He was dressed nicely in a white suit, but his eyes were glancing down at my chest. My hand moved to cover my pentacles necklace.

"What the hell do you want?" My voice is low. Jack seemed surprised by my words. At first, he glares at me, as if he never heard someone as lowly as myself speak to him like that before, but then he chuckles, this time throwing _me_ off guard.

"So it is you," Jack's words cause me to take a step back. "Did you ever-"

"Let me get this straight," I cut him off, my eyes narrowing. "I don't know who you are." Jack's eyes widen for a brief second before they sharpen once more. "So do me a favor, fuck off, and stop staring at me. Thanks." I spin, my hair flying behind me, as I begin to quickly walk away as much as I could in my heels. I hear him call a name after me, but I don't recognize it as mine. I text Rise, saying sorry, but I had to go. I made it as far as the garage when I felt a hand grab onto my arm. I don't have to turn around to know who it was, which is shit, because I could _see_ my D-Wheel in view. Escape was so close.

"Let me go, jackass," I growl.

"Not until you tell me what happened to you," Jack's grip on my arm tightens, probably to keep me from yanking it out.

"Let's not pretend you know some scum like me, _King_," I spit out the nickname as I finally turn to face him. He reacts as if I slapped him. He pulls his arm away. "How could someone like you- some rich kid from the Tops- know someone like me?" I throw my hands in the air. "You wanna know something? There's no way we could've met, and even if we did, I'm not gonna fucking remember you."

"What does that mean?" His voice is quiet. He's watching me with those purple eyes, but they're guarded.

"It _means_ I can't remember anything." I open my mouth, but a weak laugh comes out instead of words. I'm trembling slightly. "Whoever you thought you knew isn't here, if you even knew me."

Jack starts to say a name. "It's _Kallen_," I snap out, the pressure in the air rising. I take a deep breath. Getting worked up wouldn't help anything.

There's a distance between us. It feels like we're facing off against one another. The silence stretches on. "What happened?" The defeated tone to his voice tells me he finally believes me.

"I don't know," I reply honestly. "I woke up after I crashed my D-Wheel. I don't have any memories before that." I hesitate. "Do you know?"

"No," Jack replies instantly. "None of us knew. You were supposed to tell _us_." Jack looked away, probably so I wouldn't see his expression. "You're saying don't remember me?"

"You aren't an exception here. How would I even know you?"

"We were friends. In the Satellite." Jack's words made me suck in a sharp breath.

"So," I look up to meet his eyes. I understand the implication. "You came here too. How?"

"That doesn't matter. I want to know how you came here."

"Oh, me too."

We stare at each other again. I let out a cough. "If that's all, I've got somewhere anywhere else to be. By the way, it's not a nice look for the guest of honor to leave his own party." I turn my back to him, my heels clicking on the ground as I step closer to my D-Wheel to escape.

"_Tomorrow Girl._" The nickname makes me stop in my tracks.

"...what?" I answer back.

"You remember that," Jack notes.

"You aren't the first person to call me that recently." My back is still turned to him. "Why do you think I'm the girl you used to know? The Tomorrow Girl?"

"You look just like her," Jack's voice is low. "You have the same necklace. Our rings match. We found them in the garbage back in the Satellite. And you left me this." I hear him pull something out.

My curiosity gets the best of me. I look to see what he has. I take a step back in shock. In his fingers, he holds a card, but it's not any card.

"The Wheel of Fortune," I murmur, my heart dropping to my stomach. "That's mine. That's the card I'm missing."

"You left it with me. You said to give this back when I found you," Jack throws the card towards me. I catch it, even with my shaking hands. I stare at it in disbelief. The card whispers to me, telling me this card represented Jack to me. I know he's telling the truth. I know whoever left this card for Jack _used_ to be me.

"What do you want?" I take my eyes off of the card to look at Jack once more. "What do you want me to say? I'm not the same girl you knew. What's the point of this?"

"I want a duel," Jack says easily. "I gave you your card. You owe me a duel."

"...Fine," I step towards my D-Wheel and press a button, detaching my duel disk from the console, and strapping it to my wrist dealer. I see Jack do the same with his D-Wheel that was parked nearby. I can't help but admire the exterior. I envy the money he must have spent to customize some fancy shit like that.

"You improved your D-Wheel," Jack noted in amusement. "I thought it would have broken down by now."

"Why do you think I crashed?" I activate my duel disk. "I don't know what you hope to get out of this, but I doubt you'll find it."

"I want you to remember." Jack's is determined.

I shake my head as I draw my first few cards. All I can do is ignore what he's saying. He's delusional, I decide. Or in denial. "I'm going first. I draw!" I start my turn. "I start by summoning Knight of Swords in Attack mode!"

_(Knight of Swords is a Level 3 Fire Attribute Monster with 1500 ATK and 2000 DEF.)_

"I knew it," Jack murmurs. "It's the same." He recognizes my cards. But that doesn't mean shit.

"I lay two facedown cards and end my turn," I lay the cards down, my eyes watching Jack. He shows no emotion.

**KALLEN- 4000**

**JACK- 4000**

"Very well. I draw." Jack looks at the card, a neutral expression on his face. I can't get a read on him. "I start by laying a facedown. From my hand, I activate Foolish Burial, and send a card from my hand to the graveyard." I grit my teeth. He had a plan in mind. "When my opponent has a monster on the field, I can summon Big Piece Golem to the field." Jack's monster made its debut.

I've figured out what he's doing. I'm instantly figuring out what I can do to counter, but neither of my facedown cards would help. Four of Pentacles only works when it's a direct attack, and Nine of Cups would only work if I had a monster in my graveyard.

"Now I activate my trap card- Revival Gift! It allows me to bring back one tuner monster from my graveyard. Come forth, Dark Tinker!" The tuner joins the field. Thanks to Revival Gift, I'm given two 'Gift Fiend Tokens' on my side of the field in attack mode. I'm no dumbass. I know a Level 5 and a Level 3 makes a Level 8.

And Jack only had one Level 8 monster worth bringing out.

"The pulse of the King now forms a line here! Witness the power of the rumbling heavens! Synchro summon, my very soul, Red Daemon's Dragon!" Jack's ace monster enters the field in a burst of red light. I hold up my hand to cover my eyes. He's a large beast, taking up a lot of room in the otherwise empty parking lot. I smirk.

"That was quick," I remark. I need to step up my game. A plan forms in my mind.

"I'm hoping to get through to you," Jack admits.

"That's not how this works," I hiss out. "That's not how _any_ of this works."

"We'll see. Red Daemon's Dragon, attack Knight of Swords!" Red Daemon's Dragon unleashes his attack, his claws stretched out as he slashes through Knight of Swords. I raise my arms to cover my face, even though I know there's no pain. It's just a familiar motion at this point.

**KALLEN: 4000 - 2500**

I lower my arms, my hand moving to draw a new card. "Get ready, jackass. It's my draw!" I pull a new card. I smirk. This would work.

**KALLEN: 2500**

**JACK: 4000**

"From my hand, I use the spell Nine of Pentacles!" I lay the card down. "With it, I can summon King of Cups, but he's not staying long. Thanks to your gift, I'm able to summon _this!"_ I lay the card onto my duel disk. "The Arcana join to create their ultimate beast! Unleash your power and wake the world! Come forth, _Arcanite Dragon!" _My own ace dragon joins the field, a stunning violet dragon. It lets out a screeching roar and flaps back its wings, sending a harsh blast of wind through the air. My hair blows back, making me wince.

_(Arcanite Dragon is a Level 8 Dark Attribute Synchro Monster with 2800 ATK and 2500 DEF)_

A smirk crosses Jack's features. "You summoned it," Jack sounds _happy_ for some reason.

"What did you want to get out of this?" I feel the wind picking up around us. "I don't know you. This- this isn't doing anything, or helping either of us."

"It confirmed that it's you. That you're-"

"I'm _not her._" I hiss out before he could say it again. "Whoever you thought you fucking knew is gone. It's just me. It's just Kallen." I close my eyes and take a shaky breath. "And I can't talk to you until you get that through your stupid head." I open my gold eyes once more. "Thanks to Arcanite Dragon's special ability, when I discard one card from my hand, I can target any monster on the field and change their attack points to zero for this turn only. Take a guess to which one I'm aiming for." I point towards Red Daemon's Dragon. Jack doesn't react much, but his violet eyes narrow.

_Red Daemon's Dragon: 3000 ATK - 0 ATK_

"Atlas from Greek mythology held up the weight of the sky before," I mused. "But you can't even take out one girl, _King_._" _I glance at Jack, but his eyes are wide. "What?"

"You said that before," Jack's posture is stiff. "Back when we first met."

"Stop it," I demand, my face turning red. I can't tell if I'm angry or embarrassed. Probably both. "I'm _not her_. I'm not that girl you want me to be because I don't fucking remember her."

"Let me help you-" He begins saying the name again.

"Go!" I stretch out my hand. "Arcanite Dragon, attack! Take out Red Daemon's Dragon!" Arcanite Dragon rears back his head. I let out a laugh.

I realize too late my powers are out of control. I know I realize it too late because the second Arcanite Dragon's attack lands on Red Daemon's Dragon, Jack is thrown back into the air. He lands on his back, the wind being sucked out of him. I let out a yelp, my hands flying to my mouth.

"Shit," I whisper in panic. "Shit, shit, _shit._" My body moves on impulse, my feet sprinting in my heels toward him. "You okay? I didn't mean to..." I stop. "Jack.." I glance down at him. "Your arm...is glowing..." I blink, not understanding what the hell was happening. His arm was glowing through the jacket. Jack sat up in a sitting position, wincing in pain as he did so, and took off his jacket so he could easily roll up the sleeve of his shirt. His arm was glowing. There was a mark in the shape of what looked to be wings, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that said mark was _fucking glowing _some supernatural red bullshit.

"What..." Jack looked up and down from the mark back to me. I reach out to touch it. The moment my hand connected, we both let out a painful yell.

That was the final straw. I don't want any part of this. I hear him calling that name again, but I can't hear him as I put my helmet over my hair and take off. The duel doesn't matter.

I don't stop until I'm back at my house. I park my D-Wheel in the garage, throw the helmet onto the ground, and throw open the door. I'm not breathing. I don't know how to.

"Kallen?" I hear Lucy's voice echo in, but it feels like she's a thousand miles away. I sink to the ground, hyperventilating. I feel arms around me, and she's pulling me close to her. She's rubbing circles in my back, the other hand stroking my hair.

"Breathe for me. In and out, okay? Count with me." She counts to three, telling me to breathe in, and back out. I'm trying.

"L-Lucy," I can't stop crying.

"I'm here," She promises. "I'm not going anywhere."

It takes me several minutes, but I calm down. Lucy doesn't let go of me. "Was that party that bad?" Lucy tries for a joke.

"I found someone who knows me," I blurt out. Lucy's hand freezes on my hair. "What do you know about a glowing mark?"

"A glowing mark?" Lucy's eyes widen in confusion. I pull out of her arms, but we're both still sitting on the kitchen floor together. "I mean, I can look into it if you want. But you'll owe me."

"Name it," I shoot out. "Whatever you want, I'll do it. I-I-" I'm still shaking. "Gods, I fucking hurt him. It was me who made that mark on him. Dammit, who the hell am I? What-" A glass breaks from the counter. I'm trying to count like Lucy asked, but there's no use. "I'm a monster. What if I-"

"Stop," Lucy takes my hands in hers and looks me directly in the eye. I freeze. "Stop it," Lucy's tone is quiet, but stern. "You are _not _a monster. We'll figure this out, but you can't blame yourself for this. You lost control, and that's okay, but that doesn't make you a monster."

"Then what does that make me?" I whisper back.

"Human," Lucy's thumb moves in a circle on my hand. It's soothing. "We all break down. It's okay. You can learn how to control it. I'll teach you." Lucy pauses. "Do you want to know who you were?"

"I'm Kallen."

"Okay. Then you're Kallen," The way Lucy says it makes it sound so obvious.

"_He_ doesn't think I'm Kallen."

"If he truly wanted to be your friend, he'd accept you for what you want to be, not who he thinks you were," Lucy smiles comfortingly at me. "But that's up to you. I can't tell you what to do about it. I'll look into the glowing marks. Everything will be okay."

"Yeah..." I feel stupid for having a breakdown in a red stupid latex dress on my kitchen floor.

"You still look pretty hot."

"Shut up," I laugh weakly. Lucy stands up, offering me her hand. I take it, but just as she begins to pull me up, a knock sounds at the door. I let go, letting my body hit the floor, where I now lay.

"If I don't answer it, do you think they'll go away?" I mutter in defeat.

"Who is it?" Lucy tilts her head to the side curiously.

"I have only one guess, and I don't like it."

Lucy considers my words. She nods her head to my room. "I got this," Lucy sounds confidant. I fear what she'll do, but I'm more terrified of actually answering the door, so I haul my ass off the ground and bolt for my room. Lucy waits before she opens the door.

"Yeah?" Lucy's tone is light. "Can I help you? It's pretty late, you know."

"I'm looking for someone," That's his voice. I was right. He did find a way to follow me to my goddamn house. That bastard doesn't give up.

"Oh?" Lucy sounds innocent. I know without looking that her eyes are wide, her lips pursed. "Who? It's just me who lives here, but maybe I can point you in the right direction."

"Her name's Kallen."

"Kallen?" Lucy is pretending to think. I peek around the corner of my door frame, and I see she's tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Wish I could help!" Jack begins to say something else.

Lucy closes the door on the King of Games while he's mid-sentence. His voice fades as the closed-door separate us. I feel okay. As I hear his footsteps walk away, I let myself sink to the ground. I'm tired. I'm so goddamn tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did decide to bump up Ruka and Rua's age, just out of preference :)


End file.
